thewildrabbit

wow, just wow... Do some of you actually watch the games, the plays called, and look at the stats after the game and think about what caused them to lose....or do you just tab it up to bad luck and the QB sucked today? Vorpma got it right... This team is a joke because no top coach or player wants to come and work here. When they are forced to by the draft they play well at the start, and then realize they what they are dealing with here in Buffalo, their play, their effort, their desire to be the best falls away.

Good lord, 4-12 / 6-9 isn't bad enough...now you want the team to tank the season so fans can endure a1-15 or 0-16 season to draft.....another possible Ryan Leaf !! just look at the history of this franchise's draft choices over the last decade Welp, the one area you are certainly correct in, is that your assumption of Tyler Thigpen leading this team to a 1-15, 0-16 looks to be about right IMO. Then again all this franchise needs to do is retain all the same coaches, and players, and just not get as many turnovers next year, they could hit either mark. The Bills don't need to bottom out to find an 'elite" QB, they just need to get lucky. They could revisit what brought Jim Kelly to them, draft a QB in the middle of the first round. Then let him walk, and let "mouse" Davis develop him in another league. Then hire a "real"offensive QB guru like Ted Marchibroda who will teach to him to call his own plays. Setup a spread offense, run the no huddle. OH YEA, the very first thing they need to do is find a GM like Bill Polian. Someone who is smart enough to build the O line first thing, bring in some good players to supporting cast to complement the top QB. OH WAIT, you mean all the stars in the known universe would all need to align in proper order to accomplish this? Plus everyone would need to work for peanuts, players & coaches. All because they want to see Ebeneezer, Monty Burns, Jack Benny, Hetty Green, Mr Potter, Marge Schott, JW Wimpy err Ralph Wilson make even more money, so he can take it with him. The correct statement should be....the Buffalo Bills will never even sniff the playoffs again as long as RW owns this team!

So many variables change from game to game, different players, different styles and schemes, different techniques on the O line. Injuries to players change each game. Even different types of passing plays effect your ATBP chart. If you were to break it down you would have to narrow it down to a specific set of pass plays for each team. Then you have different formations (play action vs spread) , different receivers (talent levels), different coaches. Execution of the play, was the WR jammed at the line, did he trip or fall down. I'm way to lazy to factor in all that stuff while watching football, kinda takes the fun right out of it

Well... I think going back to Polian is pushing it. But still, the Bills have still failed to address an O tackle in the first 3 rounds since Mike D Williams from 02 to 2012, ten years man...TEN YEARS! BTW, Williams played RT at Texas, but they had a left handed QB on the team so Williams was a "projected" LT ""Because Simms was left-handed, this led to Williams being projected as a top prospect for left tackle widely considered the most important position on the offensive line. He was considered one of the two top prospects in the 2002 NFL Draft, alongside Bryant McKinnie, a natural left tackle from the University of Miami."" http://en.wikipedia....sive_lineman%29 Now, just think of what that Bills O line would have looked like if Tom Donahoe doesn't pull a Jauron and draft the project player. Those TEN YEARS would have been with a pro bowl LT instead of a 4 year and out bum.

Of course teams face different players and different styles of defenses every week, but that doesn't really explain the 7 game losing streak. Oh yea, Injuries, mistakes, players not doing their jobs... blah blah blah After week 5 the Bills had the leading rusher in the NFL, the passing offense was gaining loads of yards, and scoring loads of points. At that time the Buffalo Bills were in the top 5 for offense. Then in week 9 against the NY Jets the wheels came off, they were 5 & 2 up until that point. The Jets beat the Bills down physically and completely demoralized them, talking trash and telling them they sucked and were backups, basically like the back yard bully pinning them on the ground and rubbing their nose in dog poop. The team just wasn't the same after that game. The next two games were complete blowouts by the (on the edge of being a bad teams) Cowboys 44-7 & Dolphins 35-8. Suddenly the offense went into the tank and became just as bad as the defense. Now you can actually blame an injury on the decline of the team in this instance, they lost their (should have been pro bowler this year) Center in Eric Wood. Now, looking back at the start of the season I'll wager if Nix/Gailey had it to do over they keep back up Geoff Hangartner instead of cutting him. The result of not having an adequate back up center basically devastated the O line for pass blocking. Still, against the Dolphins Freddy Jackson was tearing it up, he had a 8.7 YPC average and basically couldn't be stopped by the Cowboys. Chan Gailey forgetting that the running game is just as important as the passing game. Gailey went spread-shotgun for most of the game trying to play catchup. Such a long season I'll bet that Gailey forgot this play that sparked the Bills to beat the Raiders in week 2, Oakland was up 21-3 and Freddy made a 43 yard TD run that sparked the team on to a 38-35 win. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AObIj4mkNOc The Bills could have and should have beaten the Cowboys, the Dolphins, the Titans, the Jets in the second game. The problem is that Gailey has his head so far up his ass that he can't stop calling shotgun passing plays once his team is down by 7 points. He stops calling run plays even when the RB is doing well. Opposing defenses don't need to be great to beat the Buffalo Bills, all they need is a 7 point lead and Chan Gailey will win the game for them!

Here, here For the life of me I don't understand why fans feel compelled to buy tickets every year when history has shown that this owner will not cough up the money to hire a top HC until the fans stop buying tickets. Case in point, Chuck Knox. The only reason why I can't see a HC and staff change coming is because NOBODY else worth a damn wanted the job (Save Marty S who RW didn't feel comfortable with) So if they fire Gaily, who would take the job? Wannstache, he certainly hasn't helped the defense from what I see. It got a bit better against the run, but still its a sieve giving up way to many yards every game At what point do you realize you made a mistake hiring a certain person? How long should a HC be given to prove himself? Even tho his team started out the year very strong and winning 5 games. They fell on their proverbial face on offense the second half of the year and the scoring has gone beyond abysmal. Only 6 points on offense the last game and that was by the RB. Clearly both Gailey and Nix made several key mistakes both this year and last year, and those mistakes cost the team many wins both years. I'm thinking if things keep going the way they are going the fans will be out with pitchforks and torches by mid season next year. Martyball could have had this team in the playoffs this year. So many great choices could be made to enhance this team and turn it into a winner! But alas, not with RW as owner!

This stuff is so basic I can't tell you. Most of the DC's around the league gotta be laughing when they watch film of this team, and licking their chops. As bad as Jauron was at least he tried to run a diverse offense, then when he asked numbnuts Schonert to simplify the offense, and run more....being as pig headed as he is, ole Turk gave him a hard time about it. It makes you wonder about the mentality of coaches, AVP took over and started calling plays after Jauron fired Schonert. Now this man was the current QB coach and played as back up to Jim Kelly and saw first hand what a good running game and spread offense could do for a team. Then the Bills tried to run the "no huddle" offense out of a pro style set, needless to say it didn't work. For the love of god RW, spend the $$ to hire someone that knows how to setup a real NFL offense Joe Philbin OC of the Packers, he has been the OC since 07. Jeez, at least talk to him In his four seasons at the offensive helm, Philbin has directed both a productive and sound unit. The team's 1,703 points from 2007-10 were the most in franchise history over a four-year period, while the 83 turnovers were the fewest in a four-year span. The Packers' 83 giveaways since '07 rank No. 1 in the NFC and No. 2 in the NFL behind only New England. League-wide, the offense has ranked in the top 10 in total yards and total points each year, one of only two teams in the league (New England) to accomplish that feat during that period. Green Bay's point total is fourth in the league over that span, trailing only New England (1,944), San Diego (1,746) and New Orleans (1,736). http://www.packers.c...d6-d81973ad68fa

yea right So how far did Fitz throw it, considering he has no arm strength? Get over your hate for the guy. Its a perfectly thrown 50 yard pass that hits the WR right over the shoulder. Why So Serious drops it and cries about it after the game, he knew he lost that game for the Bills. Stop a min and think will ya, if Fitz couldn't make every throw don't you think Gailey would have taken a QB in the draft? The man wouldn't be a starting QB in the NFL if he couldn't make every throw.

O really? Then tell me how far Fitz throws this ball to Stevie Johnson ....in 3 seconds no less. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGJWBWcFD_4

Where is it written that once behind in a game that the ONLY way to catch up is to keep passing? If it is written somewhere, it is written by fools. What happens when the opponent gets the lead, especially a big lead. Say like 21 points. The opposing team thinks they have you down and almost beaten and will do several things. The opposing defense may start by having their DE's and OLB's pin their ears back and come after the QB harder knowing he is a position to only pass. They might also blitz more often knowing your going to pass more. Or, they go into a "prevent" defense in which they keep all the DB's deep and allow underneath passes but nothing deep. In any event the opposing defense will usually keep playing their 3rd down package the rest of the game on every down. They will run nickle and dime packages to stop the pass. So, the smart HC/OC would just start running the ball if they see the opponent is geared up to stop the pass. If the running game is working then keep using it all the way down the field until the opposing team stops the run. Once the opposing defense gears up to stop the run, then you pass. The Bills had a decent running attack this year because they ran out of the spread formation which is exactly the same formation the Jim Kelly era used to use with Thurman Thomas. It really doesn't take a genius to look at a defense and work to focus against its weakness, instead of playing right into their strength. BTW, Fitz has the arm to make all the throws, he just doesn't have the time to make all the throws. NFN, just wanted to add that my take is Chan Gailey is so intent on building a power passing offense he neglects some of the things that can make an offense very successful, and win games. A strong running game gives your team more time of possession, keeps your defense fresh and the opposing offense off the field. A strong running game can virtually demoralize an opposing defense if they are constantly chasing down your RB. Plus it tends to wear a defense out quicker, so that in the 4th QTR with the game on the line your defense is still fresh and theirs is worn down. It would seem to me when Fitz is having a bad game the very last thing you would want to do is get in a 3rd and long situation.

The thing is, that Spread offense the Bills use with 3-5 WR's makes it easier on the running game as teams can't really "stack the box" as the DB's will all be on the edge covering the wideouts. This makes it much easier on the RB's and also allows them to break longer runs, which is exactly why Jackson & Spiller can thrive in this offense. That is if Gailey would use them more often, even when the Bills are behind in the score. But yea, they run block better then they pass block for sure. I could see CJ Spiller becoming another Jamaal Charles or Chris Johnson and reaching that rushing title with the right HC / OC. Freddy is older and it would be much wiser to keep him as the pass catcher & 3rd down back and he has supreme ability in the passing game. Plus it would allow him to play quite a few more years. Gailey's failing is that he doesn't use Spiller or Jackson enough all game long. In that Dallas Game Jackson was killing the Cowboys (13 carries for 114 yards, 8.7 YPC avg) and Gailey just stopped running it...completely moronic in my view, keep running and make them focus on stopping the run no matter what the score is, then throw it.

Just wanted to add one thing, should the Bills draft an O tackle with that first pick. This is what you will hear from Fitzy all year long next year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKlZx4GySD0

NP I would be more then willing to go as far as stating the O line sucks, it has sucked for over a decade. Marv as GM had the right idea about building the O line but went about it the wrong way, thru free agency. Plus he ignored the Center position which is a key position and even as important as the LT position A dominant O line would give the offense so many more options, it opens up the entire offensive playbook, not just a short passing game.It would give them a medium to deep passing game,one where a speedy deep threat WR would be a very valuable asset. Randy Moss in his prime would be useless on this team as it stands. It would give this team more options in the run game as it would allow them to at least have a chance at 3rd and one by running. They could utilize an elephant offense in the red zone. Every head coach since Gregg Williams in 2002 has ignored building the O line properly, even then Tom Donahoe screwed the Pooch with a bad pick at #4 overall with a supposed top LT in Mike D Williams who ended up at RT for 4 years. It almost makes me wonder if there isn't some prime directive by this owner to not draft O Tackles. The only other point I'd like to make is that playing on the O line is not as simple as everyone thinks it is, as it usually takes 2-3 years to fully develop a young player. Even then if he isn't coached up properly he may never fully develop properly. Kinda why you need good depth behind the starters to play special teams and allow for substitutions at times.A good team should always be developing young talent for the line. Head coach Mike Mularky had the right idea when he hired 25 year veteran O line coach Jim McNally away from the NY Giants, McNally was the one who took an undrafted walkon TE and turned him into an all pro LT in Jason Peters. If there is a top OT in this years draft, Nix / Gailey would be wise to select him

The main reason for the lost decade is the unbelievable ineptitude by this owner since 2005, GM's that shouldn't be GM's, no GM, a moron for a de facto GM, a president that does absolutely nothing in terms of making the right decisions to build this ball club into a winner. On a "normal" winning NFL origination there is a proper hierarchy . Where the GM and president are actual football people

Another reason for the low amount of sacks is that the Bills don't have a deep passing game, kinda the reason Lee Evans wasn't very valuable in Gaileys offense. What made JP Losman & Trent Edwards look so inept so often is that Schonert would call for 5-7 step drop back passes in that "Mike Martz" scheme the Bills ran under Jauron, when they clearly weren't allowed the time to throw deep by the O lines. So it is a combination of Fitz and scheme that have resulted in so few sacks, this O line still stinks in my view. Besides this passing offense in being so one dimensional is the reason for their failure to keep moving the ball in every game all year There was an article made by ESPN this year (before Wood going on IR) which stated the Bills were the second worst in the NFL in allowing pressure after 3 seconds, so even with that short passing game Fitz still is under a ton of pressure all the time. ""The team that takes the shortest amount of time to throw is the Buffalo Bills Fitzpatrick, also a top-10 quarterback according to Total QBR, has to get the ball out so quickly because Buffalo's offensive line is the second-worst in the league at allowing pass pressure within three seconds in the pocket. "" QB http://forums.twobil...ine-in-the-nfl/ BTW, The ineptitude is still there, its just being masked by a good QB and the scheme....one of the reasons this team only won 6 games...and the offense has dropped to pathetic. Don't forget in that 40 point win the offense only scored 6pts...by the RB

Good point. Let me reiterate about how lame some of the play calling has been this year. The real reason this team stopped moving the ball and scoring points. Gailey seemed hellbent of passing the ball all game long, and even more so once the Bills are down by as little as 7 points, and even when his QB was not playing his best. Gailey has the right idea of utilizing a spread formation for both running and passing as that is the same formation that Thurman Thomas had so much success with in the JK era. The Bills would run Thurman gaining yards after yards to setup the pass. As soon as the LB's started to cheat up Kelly would open up. For the life of me I don't understand why Scott Chandler isn't more involved in the passing game. the man should be the designated the primary or secondary target all game long. Just like the Patriots do. What DB is big enough to jam Chandler at the line? What DB is tall enough to out jump Chandler for the ball? The next thing is running the old Redskin "counter trey" out of that spread formation just like the 90"s Bills did. Make the opposing defense commit to a wrong first step and then have the RB either hit the hole or cut it back. Chan Gailey is supposedly some sort of offensive guru, and yet he does the most inexplicable moronic things game after game. CJ Spiller, the only bad game the kid had was against the Jets & Chargers. Jets, 19 for 55 yds. Against Tenn 14-83, 5.9 YPC and Gailey stopped running him in the 2nd half. Against SD 12 for 46 But again, the Bills get behind and Gailey goes nut calling shotgun passing plays most of that game. So Spiller never even had a chance to get his game going Look at the drive chart, its a joke http://www.cbssports...20111211_BUF@SD Against Miami 12 for 91, and again Gailey stop using him in the second half, this time in his presser after the game the media asked Gailey about it and he stated some nonsense about not wanting to over work the smaller RB. Funny how Jamaal Charles and Chris Johnson all have identical builds. Against Denver, 16 for 111. Spiller finally gets to see action the entire game, mostly because the bills had the lead and ran their "normal" offense all game long. I have no doubt that once the Patriots get the lead on the Bills this upcoming Sunday that Gailey will revert to his pass happy self. Another thought, Fitz has been good in the fact that he played the entire year ( injured or not?) So we never did get a chance to see what a regular QB in Thigpen looks like behind that line. I'm thinking that the current awesome stats for sacks allowed would skyrocket.

Dunno where you get those stats from? http://www.nfl.com/s...=true&Submit=Go The Bills are currently 11th in total yards, 22nd in yards per game, 26th in attempts per game, 18th in rushing TD's, 6th in runs over 20 yards. I feel this coaching staff abandons the run way to quickly once they are down by 7 points. Considering the line appears to be better at run blocking then pass blocking it really makes no sense that Gailey just keep trying to run his spread shotgun offense, even when it isn't working Chan Gailey called plays like an imbecile in many games this season, abandoning the run way to often. The defense did get slightly better in yards allowed, and way better in turnovers. But you can't bank on getting turnovers every game as evidenced by this Bills season. So the defense must focus on getting better at allowing yards. They are currently 24th overall, 15th passing, 28th rushing. The Bills are 3-4 players away on offense and 3-4 players away on defense, a good draft and free agency can make this team much better. We will see...

Nobody knows whats going thru RW's mind about his team, I suspect black Monday will come and go without to much fuss at OBD. My questions are do they go forward with the same DC, the same S&C coaches? Do they finally upgrade the O line around Wood & Levitre? Do they finally find a pass rusher ....one that can stay healthy the entire year?

Because Lee Evans was injured most of the year? Plus the fact that the Baltimore media is crying about Evans 4 targets last week ad he didn't catch a ball. So Bills fans need to bleat about it also Like someone else pointed out his injury was severe enough to put him on IR, but the thinking was if they let him recover he could be back in time for the playoffs. Ozzie Newsome doesn't make many mistakes on player personnel, unlike the Buffalo Bills have for over the last decade. Probably the reason the Ravens have already won one super bowl. Plus 7 playoff appearances in the last 11 years. Someone called ME a hater, that's funny Why? because all I'm asking is to wait and see what the last few games hold for the man, and the real haters can't do it. BTW, The Bills offense only scored 6 points, and that was a TD run by Spiller. The defense had 2 pick 6's, 4 INT's on Tebow. An 80 yards punt return by Leo M, plus 4 FG's

Can't let it go...can ya

They can't let it go, because to the homers Evans was a bum. Peters was a bum, Lynch was a bum. Maybin was a bum. Poz and Whitner were bums. Greer, Leonhard were bums. It doesn't matter that this franchise has been so inept over the last decade that half the time they don't know the difference between a good player and a bad one...or even how to utilize players properly Here is another novel idea, how about we wait and see what Evans does the rest of the season

NFN but it goes way beyond the 5 head coaches in 11 years. What I don't get is the fact that this owner had a brilliant idea in hiring Tom Donahoe as GM & president to run his team in 2001, and then fires him in 2005. then doesn't replace him with a different proper GM or president. Was Tom Donahoe the only person on the face of the earth trustworthy enough to garner this owners blind faith in a job? RW then makes himself president again and hires a ex- HC Marv Levy to GM. A man with no virtually no practical GM experience whatsoever. This stupidity has to be compared along the same lines as Detroit hiring an announcer as CEO and de facto GM in Matt Millen. Then, if that wasn't bad enough after Marv Levy retires this owner lets then HC Dick Jauron make personnel decisions along with the business man Russ Brandon (real de facto GM?) John Guy and Jim Overdorf. With Tom Modrak running the scouting dept. No real GM, no real president from 05 to 09 to run this franchise. then he hires an ex head of scouting as GM. What is it with this owner? Does he not trust another human besides himself to run his team. I find it difficult to believe that an astute businessman like Wilson doesn't realize he isn't getting the job done in terms of wins. Or is he just that much of a hard ass that he refuses to let it go? Jeez, Hire a President like Bills Polian- Ozzie Newsome clone, and then sit back and enjoy the wins. Current Atlana Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff would be a perfect choice to hire as the new Buffalo Bills president, IMHO. Look what he has done for the Atlanta Falcons since he was hired in 08. Then let him make all the decisions on the football operations,staff and players. I could basically guarantee that this franchise would be competing for the division ever year. Doesn't this owner even care about going out as a winner?

Tebow is not a very good pocket passer at this point in his career. So when the Bills got the lead and the Bronco's OC went into a Chan Gailey mode and just kept trying to throw throw throw.... Meanwhile they forgot what got them 6 straight wins, RUNNING THE BALL in a QB option. I have no idea why experienced HC's allow this type of stuff to happen.

I get a kick outta this, both Bills fans AND Raven fans are crying that Evans didn't catch a pass last week....so now he is and always will be a complete bust.....NVM that he was only targeted 4 times. Bills fans stating it was a "great trade" because he was worthless as a Bills, NVM the fact that the Bills haven't had any sort of a deep passing game since Steve Fairchild was OC, and JP Losman was the QB. Even then the Bills didn't field a decent enough O line to allow 5-7 drop back pass most of the time, so the QB was almost always under duress. At least Chan is smart enough to know his limitations and doesn't even try and throw deep very often. But then again Gailey is a bit of a tool in other ways, Scott Chandler could have had a great season if this HC utilized him more as a primary target. Its not the fact that he wasn't involved in passing plays, he was. He just wasn't the primary receiver very often. But this is one of Gaileys shortcomings in the fact he rarely utilizes his TE in his passing schemes. Another of his shortcomings is the RB position, as soon as his team gets behind by 7 points he forgets about running the ball and just goes into a pass happy craze.Not to worry tho, this tool will be HC for at least another year. Here is a new thought, how about we wait to see what Evans does in his remaining games this year before condemning him to the cross.

Whats scary about this idea is that this owner likes to "promote from within" so this idea is not as far fetched as some may think. Although I don't see Dave Wannstedt as having proven anything to anybody just yet. I don't see the defense improving very much over last years defense. So far the fans seem to be mostly content with inept Gailey as the HC for now, dunno why it takes everyone 3 years to see the ineptitude that started in year one under this man. So hopefully at some point in next years losing season we can expect a real change, to what exactly I'm not certain. With this owner being so old, much older then now deceased Al Davis. Its difficult to determine what he is thinking in terms of the current HC. For myself I'd have never allowed Gailey to be hired in the first place. Not when someone Like Marty S wanted the job.